* Q: Swami, why was I born?
Sai: For what purpose were you born? (1) Man has been
sent into the world ... to realise the truth that he is not
man, but God. The wave dances with the wind, basks in
the sun, frisks in the rain, imagining it is playing on the
breast of the sea; it does not know that it is the sea itself.
Until it realises the truth, it will be tossed up and down;
when it knows it, it can lie calm and collected, at peace with
itself. (2)
* Q: How am I God, Swami? I am a human being
with a human body
Sai: You are in this body, in this receptacle, ... to realize the
God you really are. This body is the cocoon that you have
spun round [yourself], by means of your impulses and
desires. Use it to grow wings so that you can escape from it! (3)
* Q: Do I have to reach God?
Sai: All creatures have to reach God. (4) It is the destiny of
man to journey from human-ness to divinity, as he has
already journeyed from animal-ness. (5) Some may
ascend a plane, others may travel by car or board a bus,
some may prefer a train journey, others may like to trudge
along -- but all must reach the goal, some day or other. (6)
* Q: But, Swami, where will I find Him?
Sai: [The] Divine Principle is the very core of man. ... It is
the source of strength which is unfailing and irresistible. ...
The Divine is here before you, behind you, inside you,
outside you; the Intelligence through which you can
recognise. (7)
* Q: I'm sure I could find God if I lived here
at Prasanthi Nilayam, with You.
Sai: The community in which you find yourself is the arena
where you can win the victory, the gymnasium where you
develop the skill to win. (8)
* Q: But why must I stay in such an unhappy
world, where I too am unhappy?
Sai: You [learn] by the experience of the buffetings of the
World. The World is a very essential part of the curriculum
of man. (9) The ... world is like a hotel to which we have
come to experience the consequences of our actions in the
past. The body is a room in the hotel in which we have to
undergo the Karmic consequences. (10)
* Q: When I am home, many things distract me.
I don't often think of finding God.
Sai: Without trying to discover the Divinity that is in the
human form, people are wasting their lives. If you examine
the great scriptures of the world, you will find that they all
emphasize the supreme preciousness of being able to
discover one's Divine nature, without which one cannot
achieve real bliss. Man seeks worldly pleasures and
prosperity but does not seek that inner Divinity which will
give him permanent happiness. (11)
* Q: But, Swami, isn't it a long way?
Sai: You have got to go a long way. But do not be down-
hearted. (12) I have come to guide [you]. (13) I am ...
ready to help you from the first lesson to the last. (14)
Key:
(1) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 81.
(2) Voice of the Avatar, II, 4.
(3) Sathya Sai Speaks, IV, 12.
(4) SSS, I, 14.
(5) Sathya Sai Baba: Embodiment of Love, 65.
(6) SSS, IV, 40.
(7) VOA, II, 10.
(8) SSS, VIII, 5.
(9) SSS, I, 12.
(10) Sanathana Sarathi, 30, May 1987, 122.
(11) SSS, XI, 57.
(12) SSS, I, 196.
(13) Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, frontispiece.
(14) SSS, I, 196.
* Q: Swami, the Golden Age that You have spoken
about, when will it begin?
Sai: The day when the brotherhood of man and the
Fatherhood of God will shine bright and beautiful is dawning
and drawing near. (1)
* Q: What will this time be like?
Sai: This age [will be a] Golden Age for the seekers of God,
for earning and learning Viveka. (2) [In it] falsehood will fail,
truth will triumph, and virtue will reign. Character will confer
power then, not knowledge or inventive skill or wealth.
Wisdom will be enthroned in the Councils of Nations. (3)
* Q: What sign will You give that the Golden
Age is beginning?
Sai: The glory of Sai will spread to every part of the world.
It will increase a thousandfold. (5) You will see thousands
pressing along this road, hundreds on every rock on these
hills. (6)
* Q: How crowded it will be!
Sai: [That] day when millions will gather to benefit from the
Avatar is fast coming; I am advising you to garner and
treasure all the Grace and all the Bliss you can, while you
may, so that you can sustain yourselves ruminating on the
sweetness of the memories and the experience. (7)
* Q: If millions come, where will
we gather?
Sai: The time will soon come when this huge building or
even vaster ones will be too small for the gatherings of
those who are called to this place. The sky itself will have
to be the roof of the Auditorium of the future; I will have to
forego the car and even the aeroplane when I move from
place to place, for the crowds pressing around them will be
too huge; I will have to move across the sky; yes, that too
will happen, believe Me. (8)
* Q: Walk across the sky, Swami. How
exciting that will be! How else will the world know You are the Lord?
Sai: Formerly, when the Govardhanagiri was raised aloft by
the little boy, the Gopis and Gopalas realised that Krishna
was the Lord. Now, it is not one Govardhanagiri, a whole
range will be lifted. You will see! Have patience, have faith.
(9)
* Q: It is difficult for me to imagine such
a miracle!
Sai: Do not be misled. It is not my purpose to strike men
dumb by the display of miraculous might! I have come to
confer the boon of blessedness and the benediction of bliss
as the reward for genuine spiritual endeavour and to lead
mankind into Liberty, Light and Love. (10)
* Q: How very fortunate I am to be alive
this day.
Sai: Your good fortune ... is greater than that available for
anchorites, monks, sages, saints and even personalities
[embodying facets of Divine Glory! (11) The fact that you are
alive this day is a blessing. (12)
* Q: Swami, why have you waited so long to
declare Yourself publicly? Why do You not declare the Golden Age now?
Sai: Prior to that I have to bring such persons near me,
who, in their previous lives, have been incessantly and
untiringly trying to get access to me through their severe
sadhana. A time will come when the world will know about
the Avatar through public declaration. (13)
* Q: Who will declare You to the world,
Swami?
Sai: Devotees of world stature, able to speak of Sai, will be
present when the time is correct for them. (14) The
Mahapurushas, the Mahatmas, the Jnanis, [and] the Yogis
... will all be co-operating in the task of re-establishing
righteousness and clearing the path for the World-attaining
Santhi. (15)
* Q: What will the world be like when You have
finished Your work?
Sai: The world will be peaceful. ... All will be love -- love,
love, love everywhere. (16)
* Q: Oh, Swami, what can I do to be ready for
the Golden Age?
Sai: Adhere firmly to the truth of your convictions. Be
prepared to meet any challenges. ... Be ready to face any
situation. ... Strengthen your faith in God. (17) Prepare
for shouldering the task assigned to you -- to be instruments
dedicated [to] the mission on which the Divine has come. (18)
Key:
(1) Sathya Sai Speaks, X, 34.
(2) SSS, XI, 186.
(3) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 21.
(4) Spirit and the Mind, Sandweiss, 245.
(5) Sanathana Sarathi, 36, Dec. 1993, 333.
(6) SSS, II, 90.
(7) SSS, VIII, 94.
(8) SSS, II, 90-1.
(9) SSS, III, 23.
(10) Sathyam, III, 21.
(11) SSS, VI, 211.
(12) SSS, X, 17.
(13) Sathya Sai Baba and the Nara-Narayana Gufa Ashram, I, 38.
(14) My Baba and I, 205.
(15) SSS, I, 32.
(16) MBI, 189.
(17) SS, 36, Dec. 1993, 333.
(18) SSS, IX, 94.
* Q: Swami, You must get hungry, and yet I have
never seen you eat.
Sai: For Me, your Ananda [Bliss] is My Food. (1) I need no other
food than [that]. I am Anandaswarupa. My nature is
Ananda. (2)
* Q: Do you ever sleep then, Lord?
Sai: If I needed rest I would not have incarnated. (3) I do
not sleep at night; I remember ... the events of my past
appearances, and I laugh within myself as memories pass
across. (4) In the middle of the night, [I turn] off the light
and [rest] in bed because if the light is on devotees gather.
... People think that Baba rests in the afternoon until 4 p.m.
But He never rests. He is never tired. He is always working.
(5)
* Q: Don't you wish sometimes to travel somewhere else, just
to get away from all this?
Sai: I have no need to see places. I am everywhere,
always! (6) I am not moved by the craving for a change, or
for recreation, or travel. (7)
* Q: Do you ever worry that, with all these people here, You
won't be able to complete Your work?
Sai: Worry is totally alien to me. I am not aware of any
difficulties, disparagement or pressures caused by others.
... (8) Nothing can hold Me up or agitate Me or cast a
shadow on Me in this Human Form.... My Sankalpa must
prevail; My task must be accomplished. My Mission will
succeed. (9) I may sometimes wait until I can achieve ten
things at one stroke.... But My Word will never fail. (10)
* Q: You are always at work and yet You seem so calm.
Sai: I do not have a time schedule to adhere to nor can any
law bind me. I am the ultimate from whom everything
originated, in whom it is preserved and in whom it will be
destroyed. (11)
* Q: How can I know that side of You?
Sai: Stay at Prasanthi Nilayam; move with Me and
experience My company and conversation. Listen to Me
and watch Me and then form your conclusions; get in and
know the depth; eat and know the taste. (12)
The way in which the Avathar has to be used for one's
liberation ... is: watch His every step, observe His actions
and activities, follow the guiding principle of which His life is
an elaboration. Mark His Love, His Compassion, His
Wisdom, try to bring them into your own life. (13)
* Q: I should not only watch You. I should also listen carefully
to Your advice, should I not?
Sai: You can get Anandam only by following the advice I
give you and that is why I am particular that you should
listen carefully and take to heart all that I say. (14) Trust in
My wisdom: I do not make mistakes. Love My uncertainty!
For it is not a mistake. It is My Intent and Will. Remember,
nothing happens without My Will. Be still. Do not want to
understand; do not ask to understand. Relinquish
understanding. Relinquish the imperative that demands
understanding. (15)
Key:
(1) Sathya Sai Speaks, I, 179.
(2) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 64.
(3) Sathya Sai Baba: Embodiment of Love, 216.
(4) Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 10.
(5) Conversations with Sathya Sai Baba, 65.
(6) Sathyam, III, 25.
(7) LBSSSB, 124.
(8) Sanathana Sarathi, 33, Sept. 1990, 245.
(9) SSS, I, 95.
(10) SSS, I, 189.
(11) Sai Vandana, 142.
(12) LBSSSB, 202.
(13) SSS, VI, 167.
(14) SSS, I, 15.
(15) Sathyam, III, 43.
* Q: What is the goal of human life?
Sai Baba: What is the goal of human life?
What is the objective that man must realise? Is it just
eating, drinking, sleeping, tasting a little joy and grief and
finally dying, like any bird or beast? No, certainly not. A little
thought will reveal that it is ... Brahma-Sakshathkara, the
realisation of the Absolute, of Brahman! (1) You have
come from the Divine and you have to go back to the
Divine. (2)
That Divine Principle is the very core of man. Becoming
aware of this Truth is the goal of life; it is the source of
strength which is unfailing and irresistible. ... The Divine is
here before you, behind you, inside you, outside you; the
Intelligence through which you can recognise. It is also with
you, but you are either blind or diseased with defective
vision or, worse still, wilfully inclined to close your eyes! (3)
* Q: What is the aim of all spiritual practices?
Sai Baba: All spiritual practices are aimed at [the complete]
purification [of the heart]. (4) Love has an electronic effect
on human beings. It purifies the human heart. (5) Through
love alone -- love acquired through sadhana, and shared
with all as sadhana -- can peace be attained, by the
individual as well as by the nation. (6)
God is the very Embodiment of Love. ... God who is Love
can be realised only through Love. (7) Unless you cleanse
the mind with Love, the Full Moon of Spiritual Wisdom
cannot shine therein. The recital of the Name, the
observance of vows and vigils, of fasts and festivals, may
scintillate on the Inner Sky of the mind, as stars stud the
sky, but, until the Lamp of Love is lit, the darkness will not
vanish. (8)
* Q: Why must I work? Why can I not simply sit under this
tree and read about God?
Sai Baba: As long as you are in this world, you must be
engaged in work. Work is very important for human beings.
It is through your work and activities that you learn to
harmonize thoughts, words and deeds. (9) Perfect
freedom is not given to any man on earth because the very
meaning of mortal life is relationship with and dependence
on another. (10)
The true Guru is not a human preceptor [teacher]. It is the Cosmos
Itself, Prakrithi, Creation, the World around us. (11) You
[learn] by the experience of the buffetings of the World. The
World is a very essential part of the curriculum of man. (12)
The community in which you find yourself is the arena
where you can win the victory, the gymnasium where you
develop the skill to win. The spiritual journey lies through
compassion, sympathy, mutual help, and service, and these
are fostered by society and are to be used for society. (13)
* Q: Are we alone in the universe? What are other beings
like?
Sai Baba: The universe is without beginning and in it dwell
an infinitude of 'jivas' (living beings). Among these jivas,
man is the most exalted being. (14) In all the universe
there is no other planet that has human life, or a similar life
form. ... There is life throughout the universe. [But] the
expression of life on Earth is upward through the human to
the Divine. By virtue of human birth, the next step is the full
realization of the Divine. Human life is sacred and must be
appreciated as having the highest value. (15)
The question about life in the universe arises because you
project your own particular circumstances. You feel that
other ways of life would be intolerable because such ways
would be intolerable for you. In the hot, blazing Sun, for
instance, beings are living. This life exists in circumstances
considered to be intolerable by you. Elsewhere in the
universe, life feels it is Divinity, is one with Divinity, and is
quite happy, and feeling all is right. (16)
* Q: Are there other "gods" besides God? What do they
do?
Sai Baba: Just as the ruler of a petty earthly domain has
certain norms to go by in carrying out his duty, the
Supreme Ruler of the world, the Almighty, too, [has] such
regulations in the matter of the governance of the universe.
It is puerile to say that God would do everything by Himself
simply because He is omnipotent. ... Even as there is a
delegation of authority in the administration of a terrestrial
kingdom by a ruler by which various functions are
performed by several ministers who are assigned the
charge of certain departments and portfolios, in running the
affairs of the Cosmos, the Almighty God too assigns certain
functions to certain gods like Indra, Varuna, and Rudra.
Just [as] all earthly matters are not taken directly to a king,
but are presented to the concerned ministers for action, all
prayers of man do not reach God Himself - they are
attended to by His 'ministers' -- Indra, Varuna and others.
. (17)
The Lord will not interfere in the functions of the different
deities. He lets Brahma, Vishnu, and Easwara carry out
their respective functions according to the cosmic laws. (18)
Prayers for worldly ends do not reach God. They will reach
only those deities who deal with such restricted spheres.
But all prayers arising from pure love, unselfish eagerness
to render service and from hearts that are all inclusive will
reach God. (19)
* Q: Why do I feel happy when I see someone happy?
Why do I not feel sad instead?
Sai Baba: We are not troubled when something is good,
only when it is bad. This is because goodness is natural
and evil is an aberration. We are worried and alarmed when
someone slides into wrong or is in pain or in sorrow. This is
because nature plans us to be right, to be happy and ever
in joy. It is a pity that man has lost his understanding of this
Truth. (20)
* Q: I always feel this yearning, no matter what I do. What
is it?
Sai Baba: Man has an inborn thirst for God, an in-built
yearning for the Ananda of the highest order which will
never fail or falter. (21) The Lord has so shaped man that
he is inclined towards God and delighted at the expansion
of his vision and happy when he is moral and virtuous. So
man must serve his best interests by adhering to his basic
nature, by concentration on Brahma, by the cultivation of
Sathya and the practice of Dharma. (22)
The deepest yearning of man is to experience the One, the
Basis, the Being that has Become. (23) It is only by
drinking God that [this] thirst can be quenched; not by
substitutes or palliatives. (24) Man can obtain Santhi only
by returning to [his] native home, viz., God. Until then,
homesickness will haunt him. (25)
* Q: What sets human beings apart from animals?
Sai Baba: Discrimination ... sets [human beings] apart from
the rest of the animals. (26) [The] divine power is present
everywhere in creation. Only man has the capacity to
recognise this power. (27) No other living being [than man]
has been endowed with intelligence and [a] discriminative
faculty, heightened to this degree, in order to enable it to
visualise the Atma. This is the reason why man is
acclaimed as the crown of creation, and why the Sastras
proclaim that the chance of being born as man is a very
rare piece of good fortune. Man has the qualifications
needed to seek the cause of Creation; he has in him the
urge and the capacity. (28)
Man alone can rise through effort to higher stages of
spiritual evolution. No other animal can do so. Animal
tamers of the circus can train a tiger to perform various
tricks, but they cannot change his nature. They cannot
make it live on grass and completely deprive it of meat.
But man is different. His nature can be changed by means
of his own disciplined effort. He can control, by his will, the
evil thoughts and ideas that arise in his mind. This is why
birth as a human being is considered a rare gift. (29)
The special instrument that God has allotted man, namely,
Buddhi or the Intellect, has to be used by man to become
masters of these down-dragging senses. The Intellect has
to be used to judge and decide the means for the upliftment
of the human to the Divine. It has to help man to realize
God. (30) In a world replete with ... opposites, man has to
make constantly the choice between what is right and
proper and what is wrong or undesirable. A man who has
no such discriminating faculty is an animal. Man should not
let himself be guided by the mind. He should follow the
directions of his intelligence (Buddhi). As long as you follow
the mind, you cannot obtain Madhava (Divinity). (31)
* Q: When I do something, do I do it or does God?
Sai Baba: You have to realise that little depends on your
efforts alone. You can have proof of this in your own body.
For instance, what efforts are you making to see that your
heart beats regularly? How far are you responsible for the
breathing process that goes on continually? What is your
contribution to the digestive process that goes on within
you? Are these the results of human efforts? Can you
continue to live merely by wishing that you should go on
living? Are you able to end your life when you wish it? Are
you responsible for your birth? Not at all. When you inquire
into this problem, you will realise that it is your sense of
doership and enjoyership which is causing all difficulties.
(32)
When [a person] performs actions, regarding himself as the
doer, the actions become fetters that bind him. All actions
which are performed with the feeling that they are intended
as offerings to please the Divine do not lead to bondage.
They become "desireless" (Anapeksha) actions. One has to
recognise that it is the Divine principle in all beings which is
getting actions done through human beings as instruments.
As long as man regards himself as the doer (kartrutva) and
enjoyer (bhoktrutva) he cannot escape from the
consequences of his actions. (33)
* Q: What should I do if I see a crime?
Sai Baba: Today many are indulging in actions opposed to
Dharma and Truth and, on the basis of their caste or
community, are promoting strife and conflict in the country.
Elders in the nation are remaining mere spectators of all
the unrighteous and violent actions that are being done by
the evil elements. Even the scholars and intellectuals are
remaining silent. Persons holding high office are merely
watching what goes on. No one, however, is making any
effort to stop this menace. They are not resisting the evil
elements. It appears as if all their knowledge, position and
influence have been reduced to nothing. Such persons,
though they may not be indulging in unrighteous acts, are
giving encouragement to them.
When evil and injustice and violence are being perpetrated,
if individuals look on unconcerned, they must be regarded
as accomplices in the crimes. In the end they also suffer as
much as the criminals. By their passive association, they
provide encouragement to the evil-doers.
When the good are associated with the wicked and do not
oppose them, they share responsibility for the deeds of the
evil doers. The Divine destroys even those who either do
not oppose or remain passive while injustice and
wrong-doing are perpetrated. The Divine will not consider
whether they are learned or ignorant, wise or unwise. If
they are learned or wise, why did they not stand up for truth
and justice? Why did they remain silent? It means they are
tainted by the same guilt. The failure to resist evil is their
offence. It is only when we resist acts of unrighteousness
and injustice and try to put down malpractices in society
that we can claim to be assisting in the task of restoring
Dharma. ...
Whoever may commit an offence, whether a son, a relation
or a close associate, one will be free from the taint of being
accessory to the crime only if he opposes the wrong action
and tries to correct the offender. If, on the contrary, he
allows it or encourages it to be done, he will be guilty of
abetment. (34)
Key:
(1) Dharma Vahini, 71.
(2) Sanathana Sarathi, 30, May 1987, 121.
(3) Voice of the Avatar, II, 10.
(4) Conversations with Sathya Sai Baba, 44.
(5) Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai in Amritsar, etc., 35.
(6) Yoga of Action, 40.
(7) Sathya Sai Speaks, XI, 68.
(8) SSS, IX, 98.
(9) Sai Baba Gita, 3-4.
(10) Sai Baba: The Ultimate Experience, 150.
(11) SSS, XI, 120.
(12) SSS, I, 12.
(13) SSS, VIII, 5.
(14) Summer Showers in Brindavan, 1979, 85.
(15) CSSB, 150.
(16) My Baba and I, 226.
(17) SSB, 1979, 8.
(18) SS, 38, April 1995, 87.
(19) SSS, XI, 68.
(20) SSS, X, 248.
(21) SSS, VII, 362.
(22) DV, 79.
(23) SSS, XI, 73.
(24) SSS, VII, 362.
(25) DV, 72.
(26) YOA, 41.
(27) SS, 31, Dec. 1988, 309.
(28) SSV, 1.
(29) SSS, X, 189.
(30) SSS, XI, 9.
(31) SS, 31, Mar. 1988, 70.
(32) SS, 33, Sept. 1990, 235.
(33) SS, 36, Feb. 1993, 30.
(34) Discourses by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, I,
141-2.
* Q: Swami, is there nothing in the universe that God did not
create?
Sai: Everything in the world is derived from God. (1)
Nothing is uncaused.... Every being, object, incident has
been caused by the Primal Cause and its direction or
guidance. (2)
* Q: What motivated God to create the world?
Sai: [God] has willed the world as His Sport. (3)
Prakrithi [the world] is just the leela of the Lord, set before
you so that you may become aware of His Glory, His
Splendour. (4)
* Q: I have heard it said that God inhabits everything. Is this
so?
Sai: The Divine dwells in the entire Universe, from the
minute atom to the vastest star. (5) No place exists where
he is not. (6)
* Q: But, Swami, we often say that Nature is different from God. We
say, "Not this. Not this." Does God dwell in Nature too?
Sai: You have to pour into the flames that rise up to destroy
(for they are the flames of revelation, purification,
discrimination) the limited vision that sees Nature as
different from the Divine. The Divine created all this through
the Divine and with the Divine substance. (7)
* Q: Then what is the key to understanding the mystery of
Nature and God?
Sai: The basic truth of Nature is the One in the many; that
is the key to its understanding. (8) The easiest way of
grasping the basic reality is to see the Lord in every
creature; the Lord sporting in all this multiplicity, as the
underlying reality of all. (9)
* Q: Swami, I find these mysteries hard to understand.
Sai: The Divine mystery is incredibly marvellous. It is not
easy for ordinary mortals to comprehend these mysteries.
(10)
* Q: What prevents me from understanding them, from
comprehending the formless God?
Sai: The Unmanifested, Nirguna Brahman [Formless God] cognised
at the climax of the Jnanamarga [wisdom path] cannot be grasped
by the sense-centred individual without great travail and trouble.
This is the reason why the Puranas dwell so much more on the
Saguna aspect [the aspect of God with form] than on the Nirguna
aspect of Godhead, First, the aspirant has to practise the Sadhana
related to the Saguna aspect of God; this will endow him with
concentration and later, according to the law of procedure
from the gross to the subtle, he can merge his mind in the
Nirguna Brahman. (11)
* Q: How could I move from being sense-centred to being
God-centred in order to be able to know this mystery
of God?
Sai: Ponder over the ameliorative and curative advice I
have given you out of the fullness of My Love; try to
cleanse your minds through repentance of wrongs
committed or contemplated; resolve with unshakeable
firmness to shape your lives anew, rid it of deep-rooted
deleterious habits of speech, thought and action, and lead it
in conformity with the Divine Plan, by which each of you will
blossom into the fully Divine. (12)
Key:(1) Sai Baba Gita, 3.
(2) Voice of the Avatar, II, 11.
(3) Sathya Sai Speaks, X, 243.
(4) SSS, III, 29.
(5) Sanathana Sarathi, 31, Dec. 1988, 309.
(6) SBG, 8.
(7) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 65.
(8) Sathya Sai Vahini, 11.
(9) SSS, I, 53.
(10) SS, 38, April 1995, 88.
(11) Dharma Vahini, 67.
(12) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 6
* Q: Swami, You said that everyone is here for a purpose.
Why are _You_ here?
Sai: I have come to inscribe a golden chapter in the history
of humanity. (1)
* Q: What do You mean, Lord?
Sai: Sai has come ... to achieve the supreme task of
uplifting the entire mankind, as one family through the bond
of brotherhood, of affirming and illumining the Atmic Reality
of each being in order to reveal the Divine which is the
Basis on which the entire Cosmos rests, and of instructing
all to recognise the common Divine Heritage that binds man
to man so that man can rid himself of the animal, and rise
to the Divine, which is his goal. (2) I want to build one
humanity without any religious, caste or other barriers in a
universal empire of love which would enable my devotees
to feel the whole world as their family. (3)
* Q: How can just one being change the whole world?
Sai: The power of Sai is limitless; It manifests for ever. All
forms of 'power' are resident in this Sai palm. (4) My Body,
like all other bodies, is a temporary habitation but My Power
is eternal, all-pervasive, ever-dominant. (5)
* Q: Does that mean that You can simply snap Your fingers
and cure everything in the world?
Sai: If I cure everything instantly, leaving the people at
their present level of consciousness, they would soon mess
up things and be at one another's throats again with the
result that the same chaotic situation would develop in the
world. (6)
[Instead] I have to work through [people], rouse the
in-dwelling God in them and evolve them to a higher reality
in order to enable them to master the natural laws and
forces. (7) [I will lead] the people ... to a higher level of
consciousness to enable them to understand the truth of
spiritual laws so that they may turn towards righteousness
and steadfastly work for better conditions. (8)
* Q: Why did the Lord Himself come?
Sai: When there is a small disturbance, a police constable
is enough to put it down; when the trouble is threatening to
develop into sizable proportions, a police inspector is sent;
when it grows into a riot, the superintendent of police
himself has to quell it; but when as now, all mankind is
threatened with moral ruin, the inspector general comes
down, that is, the Lord comes down with His army of saintly
men and seekers. (9)
* Q: If You are the Inspector General, will You protect us
from nuclear war?
Sai: Evil is so widespread that humanity itself would be
destroyed in a nuclear holocaust.... It is to prevent such a
catastrophe that this present Avatar has come to raise
human consciousness above the existing syndrome of
anger, hate, violence and war and save the world from
disaster. (10)
My mission is to pre-empt the fires [of thermonuclear
conflagration] by reestablishing dharma and the spiritual law
of one God, one religion, one [heart] language embracing
one humanity. (11)
* Q: Swami, why has the United Nations been unable to keep
the world from war?
Sai: Only the power of the Divine can save the world
[today]. (12) [I have] to deal with [a] crisis which is
world-wide and world-shaking. ... Immorality has put on the
garb of morality and is enticing man into the morass of sin.
Truth is condemned as a trap; justice is jeered at; saints
are tortured as social enemies. Hence this Incarnation has
come, to uphold the True and suppress the False. (13)
* Q: Will you destroy the wicked as you did in your Rama
and Krishna Incarnations?
Sai: In this avathar, the wicked will not be destroyed; they
will be corrected and reformed and educated and led back
to the path from which they have strayed. (14) That is why
this avathar has come unarmed; It has come with the
message of love. The only weapon which can transform the
vile and the vicious is ... Love. (15)
* Q: There seems no question in Your mind that You will
succeed.
Sai: Even if the heavens fall, Sai's resolve will not alter.
(16)
Nothing can impede or halt [My] work. (17) The Will of God
cannot be stopped. The events God ordains must take
place. (18) The splendour of this Avathara will go on
increasing, day by day. (19)
* Q: I believe You, Lord. But I fear that many will not.
Sai: Many hesitate to believe that things will improve, that
life will be happy for all and full of joy, and that the golden
age will recur. [But] let me assure you that this
dharmaswarupa, this divine body, has not come in vain. It
will succeed in averting the crisis that has come upon
humanity. (20)
Key:
(1) Sathya Sai Baba: Embodiment of Love, Mason and
Laing, 167.
(2) Sathya Sai Speaks, IX, 85.
(3) Spirit and the Mind, Sandweiss, 258.
(4) SSS, IX, 83.
(5) SSS, III, 122.
(6) SM, 245.
(7) SM, 245.
(8) SM, 244.
(9) Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Kasturi, 213.
(10) SM, 239.
(11) SM, 257-8.
(12) Sanathana Sarathi, 34, Nov. 1991, 302.
(13) SSS, VI, 265.
(14) SSS, I, 22.
(15) SSS, I, 66-7.
(16) SS, 36, Dec. 1993, 334.
(17) SSS, III, 23.
(18) Eastern View of Jesus Christ, 12.
(19) SSS, III, 23.
(20) Sai Baba: Holy Man and the Psychiatrist, Sandweiss,
91.
* Q: Swami, sometimes, when I am home, I feel afraid and
lonely without You near me.
Sai: When in fear and doubt, pray to Me. Tune in to My
mighty Power, which, compared to the power of the sun
which I have placed in the heavens, is what a baby's
breathing is to a typhoon. (1)
* Q: But when I leave Prasanthi, surely You will be busy and
forget about me.
Sai: No matter where you go, always know that I will be
there, inside you, guiding every step of the way. ... You are
my very own, dearer than dear to me. I will protect you as
the eyelids protect the eyes. (2)
* Q: How will You know I need You, Swami?
Sai: Call on Me in your distress; it is your right to invoke My
Grace. (3) If you call upon Me, I shall be at your side.***
(4)
* Q: But, Swami, surely You save only the pure. I have been
very bad recently.
Sai: To say that you have to be pure in order to win My
grace is as foolish as to say that you have to be healthy to
receive the ministrations of a doctor! The pure do not need
a Master! The tough do not need a doctor! (5) Why fear
when I am here? Put all your faith in Me. I shall guide and
guard you. (6)
* Q: But I cannot see You when I am home.
Sai: I see [you] and I am with [you], wherever [you] may be.
(7)
* Q: How can You help me thousands of miles away?
Sai: Wherever you are, you are near Me. You cannot go
beyond My reach. (8)
* Q: Swami, what happens if You do not come?
Sai: I will not forsake you. I have come to help, to
accompany, and to carry you. I can never forsake you. I will
never fail in My duty to My children. (9) Nothing will harm
him who turns his attention toward Me. (10) Sai Krishna will
install Himself in the lotus of your heart. He will be ever
with you, as guard and guide, and will shower Grace on you.
He will be the Mother, Father and Preceptor, the Nearest
Kinsman; He will be your All. (11)
* Q: Even when I have been bad?
Sai: However you are, you are Mine. I will not give you up.
(12)
* Q: Even if I forget You for a while?
Sai: Those who stray away will come again to me, do not
doubt this. I shall beckon them back to me. (13)
* Q: Oh, Swami, You are the best friend anyone
ever had!
Key:
(1) Sathyam, Sivam, Sundaram, III, 110.
(2) Sanathan Sarathi, 30, Feb. 1987, backcover.
(3) Sathyam, III, 60.
(4) Life of Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, 110.
(5) Sathyam, III, 101.
(6) LBSSSB, 98.
(7) Sathya Sai Speaks, IV, 33.
(8) Sai Vandana, 74.
(9) Yoga of Action, 8.
(10) Shirdi Sai in LBSSSB, 188.
(11) SSS, X, 149.
(12) My Baba and I, 69.
(13) God Descends on Earth, 35.
*** [KASTURI:] It does not matter if [the one in distress] is not
a devotee. In calling upon Baba, no particular Name is
essential -- Rama, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Sai, be it any. All
Names and Forms being His and His alone, He is only too
ready to answer the cry of the one in distress and to avert
it. (LBSSSB, 133.)
These quotations are taken from the Sai Dictionary of
Quotations, a collaborative work of 36 Sainet devotees.
This article has been adapted from
Bon Giovanni,
from his earlier home page on Baba.
Other sites on the Net include:
http://www.isc.tamu.edu/%7Emsr/hindu/sai/sai.html